The horse galloped for a whole day. You Miao was hungry and sleepy. He slept in Li Zhifeng's arms all the way until Li Zhifeng's voice sounded. It was not loud, but very clear.
Li Zhifeng: "We are here. Go ahead."
You Miao opened his eyes. At the end of the official road was a small checkpoint, which was almost half submerged by snow. Suddenly, he felt something light behind him. Li Zhifeng fell off the horse and fell silently in the snow. That startled the horse. It neighed again and galloped forward with You Miao.
"Li Zhifeng!" You Miao shouted.
The horse kept bumping and carrying You Miao several feet away. You Miao struggled desperately and fell into the snow. He turned and ran towards Li Zhifeng. He saw an arrow nailed to his lower back. The blood on the torn clothes where the wound was was purple and black. You Miao knelt on the snow, turned Li Zhifeng over, and kept shaking him.
"Wake up, you can't die... You can't die!" You Miao shouted in his ear, "You fucking spent two hundred and fifty taels of silver on me!!"
Li Zhifeng was breathing hard, and You Miao leaned over to his chest to listen, and heard his heart still beating. After a moment, he felt Li Zhifeng's big hand touching his head. He
stared at Li Zhifeng's eyes, and Li Zhifeng's eyes became gentle.
"Hold on." You Miao said, "I'll find someone to save you! I'll go call for help!"
Li Zhifeng kept coughing, and You Miao stood up and looked into the distance. He didn't know if there was anyone in front of the snow-covered pass. The horses looked back in the distance, and You Miao shouted, "Is there anyone?!"
He used all his strength to put Li Zhifeng's arm on his shoulders and half-carried him up. Li Zhifeng was as heavy as a mountain, and he almost crushed You Miao. You Miao was a young man, and he dragged such a man in the snow, one foot deep and one foot shallow.
"Is there anyone——?!"
You Miao's voice floated in the wind. Li Zhifeng's long hair was covered with broken snow and scattered in the wind. The snow stopped.
"Who is it?!"
Someone rode out from the pass. It was a soldier. He was saved.
The three characters "Zhengliang Pass" were engraved on the huge stone in front of the pass. This is the first pass in the north of the Great Wall. Entering the pass is the Guandong area, and it is truly entering the territory of the Han people. At the end of the year, there were more than ten veterans stationed at the plaque to guard the pass. Walking further in, it is the place where the Guandong Recruiting Envoy is stationed, and to the east is the territory of Liangzhou.
The soldiers of the Daqi Kingdom led You Miao and Li Zhifeng into a small hut inside the pass. The fire was burning brightly, and the snow melted from the two men's bodies and dripped all over the ground. Li Zhifeng was lying on the bed, motionless. The old soldiers had experience in treating arrow wounds, and brought some liquor over. One of them said, "Get out of the way!"
You Miao said anxiously, "He won't die, will he?"
"No, no!" The soldiers said, "Kid, go play aside, it's none of your business! He just lost blood and felt dizzy!"
You Miao said, "I thought he was going to die just now!"
"It's none of your business--" The old soldiers laughed heartily, and one of them came in with a knife in his hand, wrapped a few bandages around him, and joked, "Hey, you're a man, how can you hold on for so long?"
You Miao knelt on one knee beside the couch, grabbed Li Zhifeng's hand, and said, "Why did you let me walk by myself..."
"Little lover, eh?" a slick soldier teased, "Even if
you're shot by an arrow, you'll be separated from each other like this." Li Zhifeng said nothing. A soldier said, "Hold him down and remove the arrow!"
With a snap, the arrow shaft was broken by the force. Li Zhifeng just stared at You Miao. Then another soldier cut out the arrow head and picked it up. With a clang, the iron arrow head fell to the ground. Another veteran poured liquor on him. Li Zhifeng just tightened his hand slightly, pursed his lips, and frowned.
"Good job!"
The soldiers applied golden wound medicine to Li Zhifeng and wrapped him with thick bandages. The captain said, "Get up."
Li Zhifeng supported himself on the bed and sat up. You Miao was relieved to see that he was fine. When the captain bandaged his wound, he noticed the tattoo on Li Zhifeng's neck and frowned suddenly, saying, "Dog Rong people?"
As soon as the words came out, the room was quiet. The soldiers stepped back and pressed their hands on the handles of the knives at their waists.
You Miao immediately said, "Don't do it! He is my slave! I promise I will never kill anyone! Don't bully him!"
The captain said nothing more, threw the bandage on the couch, turned around and went out, laughing, "Hey, interesting, I saved a dog today."
The soldiers left, leaving You Miao and Li Zhifeng in the room.
You Miao picked up the bandage and compared it, then wrapped it around Li Zhifeng's waist and abdomen. Li Zhifeng never said a word and sat silently.
"I'll go out and talk later." You Miao said, "Don't be afraid, they won't do anything to you."
Li Zhifeng nodded, and You Miao said again, "The arrow wound is obviously not a big deal, why did you lie to me?"
Li Zhifeng finally answered, "You didn't tell me to follow you."
You Miao was both amused and sad. He tied the bandage, and Li Zhifeng immediately tightened his strong upper body. You Miao threw him the fur coat and asked him to put it on, then pushed the door and went out to talk to the captain.
The sky cleared up again. The captain and several old soldiers were standing in the snow, seemingly discussing something. You Miao walked over and said, "Brothers, I have something to say."
Several people looked at him suspiciously. You Miao clasped his fists. The captain seemed to be in his forties, brave and thin. He clasped his fists in return. You Miao had already practiced in the capital and knew that these soldiers were soft-hearted and hard-working. It was useless to use the status of a young master to pressure them or use money to order them around. So he had to tell the truth.
Including how he got this man from Li Yan, how he brought him to Yanbiancheng outside the Great Wall and let him go, how he was robbed by the Hu people on the way, and how Li Zhifeng led his soldiers to break through...
An old soldier smiled and said, "He is a loyal slave." The
captain nodded slowly. When he was about to speak, another rider came to report from outside the Zhengliang Pass.
"Inform Captain Wang..."
The soldier, wearing the uniform of the Yanbian Army, dismounted and handed over a document. Captain Wang just unfolded it and took a look, then ordered You Miao, "Follow me."
You Miao was taken to the military affairs room, and Captain Wang said, "Yanbian has sent someone to deliver a letter, asking them to find the whereabouts of you two."
You Miao thought to himself that this was great, it meant that Zhao Chao had returned safely to Yanbian City.
Captain Wang watched You Miao writing and praised his beautiful handwriting. He said, "The caravan just passed through Zhengliang Pass and went southeast a day ago. It's not too late for you to go and look for it now." You Miao said, "Okay, I'll go right away." You Miao touched the private seal in his arms, but it had been lost. He had to press a cinnabar fingerprint, handed the letter to Captain Wang, borrowed a car, and Captain Wang sent him someone to rush to Liangcheng overnight. Chapter 19 Volume 1 Fishing There was only a tattered carriage in front of Zhengliang Pass. It was the one that the princess rode when she married decades ago. The carriage was very simple and the soldiers drove the carriage. You Miao sat in the carriage, leaning on Li Zhifeng, but felt much more comfortable. It seemed that once I returned to the interior of the pass, the world seemed so peaceful and safe. In the final analysis, this is the place of the Han people. I didn't realize it before, but after passing through it once in the frontier, when I returned to the Central Plains, I felt that all the people I met were good and all the scenery I saw was beautiful. Seeing that Li Zhifeng was still looking out the window, You Miao thought about him again. He was a stranger in the frontier, and he must be the same for Li Zhifeng in the Central Plains, not to mention that he was a slave.